The Swear Jar and Other Stories
by SniperCT
Summary: Just a collection of short and medium length drabbles about Lara and Sam. Generally all follow the timeline set up in my Artifacts series (In This Together and Scars, unless noted otherwise) and I plan to fill in details about their life together. Also for fluff.
1. The Swear Jar

When we were in university we used to keep a swear jar. Lara didn't swear as much back then, but there's no way that it could have filled as fast as it did with just me. One month, there was a hundred pound note in there. We always used the money to treat ourselves to something nice but I finally broke down and asked her why. It was that hundred pounds that did it.

She'd been studying and looked flustered when I asked. "Why do you want to know, Sam?"

"Because you don't swear that much. So I want to know where the money comes from?" Duh? It was obvious. She was so dense sometimes. I loved that about her but back then it hadn't really clicked just how much.

She'd given me this smile. That goofy dorky smile that I kept falling heads over heels with. I keep falling head over heels for it, even now. "It's for every time I think about _throttling_ my best friend."

Oh. Well I suppose that made sense. I'd want to throttle me too for all the antics I pulled.

I accepted that answer at the time, but now that we're settling into our lives together, we started up the swear jar again. Don't get me wrong, Lara swears a lot more now, but it's not filling up as quickly as it used to.

So one day I decide to ask her about it, draping my arms over her shoulders while she's doing yet more research. I think she's looking at a map of Peru but I can't quite tell. "Sweetie?"

"Mm?" She doesn't look away from her notes but I catch the hint of a smile on her lips.

"So you don't want to throttle me as much as you used to?" I ask her, pointing towards the swear jar.

She follows my finger with her eyes and then blushes. Deeply. Oookay. I slide around to her side and look at her. "You're hiding something. Spill."

"It's embarrassing."

"What's so embarrassing about wanting to throttle me? Sometimes I want to strangle myself."

"That is a common reaction in anyone who's met you, Sam. But back then, I didn't really put money in when you made me want to throttle you. It was when… other things."

The truth comes out! At least partially. I sit on my knees in front of her for story time and give her my most expectant look. She seems to resist at first but I'm not at all prepared for what she actually says.

"It was for every time you turned me on or made me jealous." She sounds so sheepish saying it, but it's adorable. It's easy to forget how dense we were about our feelings for each other. Oblivious, especially on my part.

But all I can think of to say is, "Wow… So what did I do to deserve the hundred pounds?"


	2. Endurance

It's been a day since finally getting underway on our expedition (Technically it's Dr. Whitman's expedition but I still can't believe I get to play such an important role in it!). I can't wait. I can't wait to find this ancient kingdom and get my hands into the dirt. I can spend hours and days poring over old manuscripts and books and researching, but my true love is hands-on in the field.

I've been having a hard time sitting still. I spent a few hours on deck, but eventually I needed to retreat to the relative solitude of the cabin Sam and I share. We've had a long road just to get here and I'm ecstatic that she's not only sharing in this with me but _participating_. I've seen what she can do with her editing software and I'm positive she'll spin gold. I look up from my notebook when she enters and we share a smile before I glance at my watch. "I hadn't realized how late it was."

"You've been bouncing around all day," she points out. I have the top bunk, so she comes over and rests her chin on it to look up at me. I reach down and gently brush some of her hair off of her cheek. It's very soft.

"I can't help how excited I am!"

"I know!" Sam steps away and tugs her shirt off. She turns around as I try to find some place to look at that isn't her. I always have to look away, I can't trust my expression at times like these if I look at her. I hear her add, "You light up. It's amazing. I love how animated you get. This is going to kick ass, Lara!"

She's back over at the bunk and climbing in with me as I register she's shed her bra, too. I scoot over to give her room and stare fervently at the ceiling like it's a very interesting artifact. I'm only in a tank top and her skin is so warm that I barely hear what she's saying. I respond, "Well we've got a damn good film crew, you know."

"Yeah, me and a deckhand." She laughs and I turn my head to face her, before rolling onto my side and slipping my arms around her.

"You start talking cameras and you're a lost cause." The words come easily enough. We've joked about this often enough, but neither of us are one hundred percent silly about it. She's very good, and I'm very good. We're like two sides to the same coin - I can discover and teach but she's the one that can turn it into something the rest of the world wants to see.

The next few weeks are going to be plenty busy. Sam will have her face in a viewfinder for most of it and I'm going to be buried in maps and charts. I'm going to enjoy the moment's peace, and I can feel my limbs grow heavy as the excitement of the day really starts to wear off. Her fingers make little steps up and down my back and I can feel the expanse of her skin under the palm of my hand. My throat bobs as I swallow. If only she knew what she did to me.

I try to put it out of my mind and just enjoy the feel Sam's skin and the scent of her hair. My mind starts to wander to Yamatai. What will we find there, and in what state will it be in? I'm looking forward to finding out.

I must have drifted off because I'm woken when something soft brushes against my lips. I open my eyes and Sam is snuggled against me, her head tucked under my chin. I must have imagined it and I wished it had been real. I pull her closer and try to sleep again. I can't imagine life without Sam, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to tell her what she truly means to me.

"Lara?"

"Mm…?"

"Thank you for letting me come along."

I shift my head back a little to look down at her. "Your uncle is financing this expedition, Sam. It would be weird not to bring you. But I'd been hoping you'd have come anyway."

She looks up at me and smiles. The fingers of my left hand find her face and stroke along her cheekbone. "Get some rest. You get to deal with Dr. Whitman tomorrow."

Sam makes a face at me, but seems to accept my unspoken invitation to stay in my bunk, because she pillows her head on my chest.

That excitement starts to return and I almost wish it was morning so I can get to work. Almost. Because if it was morning Sam wouldn't be in my arms.


	3. Not-a-Date

Trying to get Lara to dance is actually pretty easy, all things considered. I just flash her my biggest puppy eyes and the pout reserved just for her. A drink usually helps. Then I can drag her out to the floor and bait all the guys. Though sometimes I don't want the guys and I just want her, but I usually try to pretend I'm not feeling that way about my best friend. Especially when it feels like I'm the whole world to her in those moments. It's a nice feeling, but I don't ever want to mix that up with deeper emotions.

I'm actually in one of those moods tonight so I don't want to hit the clubs, because then things'll be awkward again and the other night had been really awkward. I don't want to stay home either, so I'm not sure what to do. Lara probably just wants to stay in. We can curl up on the couch and watch something, so I pop my head into her room to pester her. I love pestering Lara when she studies.

She's standing in front of her closet in just a pair of red panties. I wonder for a moment when she'd gotten those then I remember I'd given them to her for her birthday.

I bounce in and hug her from behind. "Got a hot date or something?"

Lara jumps and I feel her skin grow warm. She stammers, "Oh, n-no nothing like that. I just thought you were going to drag me out and I wasn't in the mood to argue so I was going to get ready ahead of time…"

"I was thinking we could stay in and watch a movie, but if you wanna go out we can go out." An idea is forming in my head, and I let go of her and dig through her closet. I find a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with a Bach pun on it and hold it out to her. It says 'Take me Bach to the good old days' and has Bach's face. I don't get it, but it amuses Lara. That woman has the widest taste in music I've ever seen. There was a Metallica t-shirt in there and she'd once dragged me out to see some band called Symphony X, but one of the first times I'd ever met her she'd been listening to classical.

She looks at the shirt and then at me. "You don't want to go to a club? Are you ill?"

I laugh. "No, but I want to do something different. I just had a wicked idea. Get dressed!" I smack her on the butt and run to get ready in my own room.

I come out a few minutes later in a similar (but very cute) outfit, and smile at Lara. She's waiting in the living room and it takes her a few moments to meet my eyes. "Why do I feel like you've got something evil planned?"

"Because I do."

I'm dragging her into the skating rink about twenty minutes later, ignoring her protests. We're going to skate, and we're going to have fun. "Shush, Lara. You're very coordinated."

"I'm going to fall on my face and it'll be humiliating."

"Oh sweetie." I push her out onto the rink after we've got our skates on and kind of flail after her. She might be coordinated but I forgot that the last time I tried to skate I'd fallen on my ass. I start to careen out of control but then Lara catches up to me and steadies me. I kind of cling onto her.

She doesn't really let go of me the rest of the night, and I don't mind at all.


	4. Snow Bound

_(Not part of the In This Together universe. Sort of a "What if" set after Yamatai)_

This is all Sam's fault. This had been her idea. A get-away in the mountains of the American Northwest, in a little cabin. As though a week is going to help us decompress from… everything. We're going to need a year, if not more. But I agreed to the idea because I need that time. Admitting that I do is a step, and Sam…

When we got to the cabin, the look on Sam's face convinced me that she desperately needed this too. It's not a place I ever expected the city girl to be happy to see, but neither of us have slept well since the island.

But now, I'm watching the snow come down so hard, and this is Sam's fault. We're not going to get out of here easily. I glance back from the window. My friend is curled up on the couch with a steamy mug of cocoa, and my irritation lessons. The cabin has enough stock to last us a whole winter if it came to it, and I can always hunt us food too.

She looks so much at peace that I can't stay mad. The stress, the anguish that's been beneath the surface of her skin seems to be gone. It's ebbed from me, too. I close the curtains and walk over to sit next to her in front of the hearth. She sets aside her mug and lifts the blanket up. I slip inside with her. Head on my shoulder, Sam melts into me and I can't help but melt into her. I'm conscious of every part of our bodies that meet.

One thing that Yamatai had taught me is that Sam is my world. She's the only family that I have left. She's more than a friend, more than family. When she'd been tied to that stake and the flames had reached up to claim her…If the winds had not put the fire out I would have told her how I felt, my selfish confession, my last words to her.

"I _love_ you."

The words spill out before I can catch them, and I _freeze_. Any other words refuse to come, and I'm terrified that she'll pull away and I'll lose her forever.

Her hand finds my face and turns it until our lips touch. Tentatively at first, and then with greater urgency we explore this new dimension. She tastes a little like chocolate, and I almost miss it when she tells me she loves me too.

Let us be here together, for as long as we can. Just Sam and I and this warmth and comfort we've just discovered. If whatever cruel gods that damaged us so have any shred of mercy, _please_ just let it keep snowing.


	5. Pink Earbuds

_(Set on Lara's 20th birthday)_

"Happy birthday!"

I nearly jump out of my desk chair when Sam comes barging in, and I look at the clock. It's nearly three in the morning. And it really is my birthday, but damn I'd hoped she'd forgotten. I'd rather let my birthday come and go uncelebrated, especially with how dismal the weather is tonight.

So I turn towards her. "Sam, it's not my birthday until I go to sleep and wake up." Having my birthday on Valentine's day is terrible. I barely pay attention to boys as it is. Last year one in my classes a boy went so far as to suggest he should be my present to unwrap. I think Sam nearly hit him. _Sam_. She _knows_ better.

"Don't be dumb. You were born at two fifty-six in the morning and it's two fifty-six." She points at my clock, which indeed says two fifty-six. I look back at Sam in awe and slight discomfort at the fact she's managed to dig up my birth certificate.

"So you want to celebrate my birthday now?" Is that what that smell is? Has she been baking? Oh my god! Getting out of the chair I start towards the door. I'm having flashbacks to my sixteenth birthday. "Tell me you didn't bake. Is the flat on fire? The flat is on fire isn't it."

She bars the doorway with her body and looks up at me. "I know how to follow directions, Lara. I used a box this time. And we're celebrating now because I'm not gonna to be able to drag you out tomorrow because you have some kinda birthday phobia."

That placates me. I rest my hands on either side of the door and lean in towards her, smiling fondly. "Okay, I guess I can handle a cake if it's just you. It _is_ just you, right?"

"It's just me, sweetie." She leans up and kisses my cheek, then darts out of my reach. If only Sam was my present tonight, but those thoughts make me feel guilty. She deserves more than to be fodder for late night fantasies. It just got really hard to ignore, some nights.

I follow her out. She's pulling the cake out of the oven. It needs to cool before she can put frosting on it but it doesn't looked burnt and nothing is on fire so I'll call that a success.

There are presents on the table and I suppress a sigh. I don't need her to splurge on me, and she never expects me to splurge on her for her birthday (though I'll spend hours agonizing over just the right thing) so I don't need anything like this. Yet there's a mountain of presents on the table.

She leans on the table and winks at me. "I thought about bringing you home a date all wrapped up in a bow but I thought you'd kill me."

"You thought right. The last date you set me up on ended in disaster. I still can't show my face in that pub."

"He deserved to have his dinner dumped all over him!"

I'd told Sam all about it, of course. The bastard had just assumed I'd be going home with him and the date was just a formality, but the real final straw had come with he'd tried to grab my bum when I walked past him to go to the loo.

I'd left him with the bill and sauce dripping off his head. "That not withstanding…I hope you learned your lessons about blind dates."

"That you can ruin them on your own without any help from me?" Sam came around the table and pushed me down into a chair. "While we're waiting for the cake to cool you can open your presents! Most of it is kind of useful I guess so I made sure you get you something _fun_."

"The last fun thing you got me ran on batteries," I reply dryly.

"I _know_ you enjoy it Lara. The walls aren't _that_ thick."

My face is red but I still manage a good retort. "Just revenge, Sam. Sweet, sweet revenge."

Most of the presents are as useful as she says they are. A new journal, a portable GPS and a new pair of boots that look sturdy. I'm assured they're fashionable, and I get the impression that new boots might end up being a tradition, and one I don't mind.

The last gift is the smallest, and I open it not sure what it could actually be. It's a new smartphone, already charged and ready to go. The wallpaper is a picture of Sam being absolutely breathtaking. I look up at her.

She's fidgeting, and smiling at me. "You've been using the same Star Trek communicator for like the past five years, it's time you got into the new decade."

"Sam, thank you…" I'm going to need her help in figuring this thing out, but just playing around a little I can see she's gotten mostly everything I need onto it. There's even an app with archaeology news, and the music app is filled with my favorite artists.

In the wrapping there's also the charger, the manual and earbuds. The earbuds are pink. I'm not a fan of pink. Greens and blues, earthtones, those are the colours I love the most, but pink? Pink definitely doesn't suit me. I pick them up.

"Do you like them? The color is cute and they're supposed to be really high fidelity for the type of headphones they are!"

And they're _pink_. But I buck up and give her a big smile. "I love them, Sam. Thank you. You _really_ shouldn't have."

"Pfft." She hugs me, our bodies fitting together like puzzle pieces. "Only the best for my bestie."

I kiss the top of her head. I guess I'm stuck with pink headphones.


	6. Christmas Traditions

_**(This tradition is based on a real life one that I picked up from my wife's family)**_

It's only natural that we got an apartment together. We're going to the same university and Lara is the closest friend I have. I don't like to admit it but she's kind of my only friend. The only one that counts. Everyone else I know is fun, but kind of distant. Like they don't want to associate with the party girl outside of the parties and drinking. It kind of makes me feel like an outsider.

It's finally winter break and I don't know how I managed to survive this long. Between the hangovers and the early morning classes I'm probably some new form of zombie. Lara though, Lara doesn't show it. There are nights I have her out as late as me, and drinking just as much, but by morning she's fine. She's like a robot. She kind of just focuses on what she needs to do and gets it done.

I'm trying to decide what to wear tonight, because no more school so now I can _really_ cut loose, when Lara pokes her head into my room. "What are your plans for Christmas?"

I put down my shirt and turn around. She always gets a little bashful when I'm undressed and it's really cute, but it's seriously not like she hasn't seen it before. "Drunkely yell at my dad over the phone. Why?"

"Well uhm… Roth will be at sea and I don't really have any plans… I wondered if we could.." She waves her hand around, awkwardly trying to explain with action what she can't with words. "Decorate the flat and stay in. Do a Christmas with just the two of us."

It's so touching in a way that makes my chest constrict. I bounce across the floor and hug her. Roth is really her only family, and there were plenty of times at Boarding school where she was stuck there. And I was too. I actually remember one year where Lara stayed behind because I would have been alone otherwise. "Oh my god, Sweetie! Of course! Leave the decorations to me!"

"I'll take care of the tree." I can see the wariness in Lara's eyes. Leaving the decorations up to me, well I have daddy's credit card and no compunctions about using it!

By Monday my work is done. Lights are strung across every available surface outside the apartment. Around the windows and the railing. I even hang light up icicles off of the roof, much to Lara's fretting the whole time I'm doing it. It glitters and sparkles and feels like Christmas!

It's not really a religious experience for either of us. Lara's so practical and both of my parents were really secular. I guess over time Christmas became about us. About Lara and Sam and this bond we share.

The tree looks pretty good, with tinsel and carefully placed lights. Some of the ornaments are hundreds of years old. Winston had brought them over and the look on Lara's face was a little heart-breaking. I sent that old butler a wonderful thank you card and present, for that.

Still, there's something missing. I figure out what it is when we're curled up on the couch together with some hot cocoa, Lara's nose in her homework. "Get your coat, Lara, we're going out."

"Sam, I-"

"Coat!"

Lara sighs. It's really adorable and I've been noticing it a lot more than usual lately. These little adorable things that she does. Like the messy way she ties her hair back before a jog. I really don't know what I'd do without her in my life.

The weather is horrible but I drag Lara out anyway, grinning at her grumblings. She might grumble but she's still getting into the car and starting it. She glances at me. "You know I'm only coming along because I don't trust you to drive in this weather. Where to?"

She doesn't trust me to drive in any weather. I wrap a car around a pole _one time_ and she never lets me live it down. "You know that you're lying through your teeth because you're coming because you love me, Miss Croft."

Lara looks away from me, but I don't get a chance to think about that before the car fishtails as she pulls into the street. I make a triumphant sound and she scoffs, straightening us out. I direct her to the place I'd meticulously researched ten minutes ago on Google, and twenty minutes of Christmas Carols on the radio later we're parked in front of a little out of the way store.

I get out and wait for Lara to join me on the sidewalk before taking her hand and pulling her inside. It's an ornament shop, filled to the gills with all kinds of Christmas goodness. Lara looks around in wonderment, and then turns to me. "These are all gorgeous, Sam."

"I wanted to start a little tradition for us. Neither of us have anything anymore. My Christmases were all spent alone, until you. So I got this idea. Well I read about it online but… " I pause to take a breath and ignore Lara's amusement. "What if every year, we get some ornaments to put on the tree. No matter what happens, or if we're together or apart, we'll get ornaments. I pick one out for you, you pick one out for me, and we pick one out together for each other."

Lara's expression softens and her arms wrap around me. "Oh Sam…"

I beam into her shoulder and reluctantly pull away. "Okay, lets look for the ones for each other first and then meet and pick ours out together!"

Before she can answer I've already disappeared into the little shop. There's everything from M&M ornaments to the really traditionally painted metal ones. I have to pick just the right one for Lara, but I don't know if I want to go kind of funny or emotional or sweet or what. My natural inclination is to be a little silly. There's one of a combat boot with a kitten sticking out of it and for some reason I see that and think of her.

Instead I find this really elegant one. It's green, kind of duo tone, with a swirling design around it. I'm still holding both that and the kitten one when Lara walks up to me.

I glance at her and grin. "I can't decide…"

"The kitten," she says, automatically. I read her eyes, and put the kitten back. This was for her, not for me, and I want Lara to know she can be elegant too.

She holds up what she picked out for me, and my heart jumps into my throat. It was a snowflake with a large white center circle. The circle had been blank, but Lara had meticulously drawn in the Japanese symbol for family. The other side had our names, this time in English.

I take it, carefully, and study it through blurry eyes. Maybe it might not mean much to anyone else, but to me it means everything. I've always tried to ignore the way she makes me feel, but I look at her and everything is suddenly very clear. Lara is my best friend, my family and I love her so much.


	7. On the Mat

Months after my wounds heal, the scars still remain. Physical and mental, not a day goes by that there's not some reminder of what happened to us on Yamatai. Us, because I can scarcely let Sam out of my sight.

I don't know if someone is going to grab her, or hurt her. I can't sleep at night, between the nightmares and the obsessive need to check on her. Sam can't sleep on her own anyway, so I welcome her into my bed to cling to me in the darkness. I can protect her all the better that way, and maybe she can protect me from the nightmares.

Six months after the Endurance went down, taking family and friends and so many memories with it, I decide that Sam needs to know how to defend herself. She needs to be able to shoot, to swing an axe and disable or kill an assailant.

I purchase a mat and lay it out on the living area floor while she's out. Sam is barely through the door when I throw a ratty pair of shorts and a tank top at her. "Change. I'm going to teach you how to throw someone off of you."

"Lara, I just got in." She pulls the tank off of her face and wrinkles her nose. It's cute and almost enough to sway me. Almost. We stare each other down before she sighs and relents, disappearing into her room in order to change.

I'm already in my exercise clothing, it's similar to what I gave Sam, but of course she comes out wearing pink short shorts and a pink sports bra. It looks really good on her and reminds me of the guilty pleasure I feel when she burrows in against me at night.

"Is this good enough?"

"We're training, you don't need to be stylish."

Sam puts her hand to her heart. "Lara Croft, I _always_ need to be stylish."

For the first time in months we're really bantering again. I think that maybe everything will be all right. "Okay, so you're stylish and walking down the street."

She grins at me and starts strutting across the mat like she's on the catwalk. Her shorts ride up a little and I nearly forget I'm supposed to be attacking her. I shake my head and pounce on her from behind.

She shrieks and flails, clawing at my hand. It's momentarily effective but I tighten my grip and hiss in her ear. "Shin, go for my shin."

Sam breaks free and runs to the couch, picking up a pillow and throwing it at me. "Pretend that was a brick!"

"Good work, Sam!" Grinning, I pull her back onto the mat. "Now we're going to practice throws. If you can get them off balance you can get away easier."

I want her safe, I want her close. I never want her out of my line of vision but I have to accept I can't always be there. I throw her until she's sore and until she finally manages to get me onto my back. Our faces are so close, her hair dangling down and tickling my cheeks and mouth. We're both sweaty and out of breath. She shifts, straddling me and my head starts to grow foggy. I can't stand it for very long before flipping us around, pinning her shoulders into the mat and squeezing my legs on either side of her hips. Now it's my hair caressing her face. Our lips are so close I can taste her breath.

She half-heartedly tries to throw me off, but I'm stronger and I don't think she really wants to. Frozen. I'm frozen. I can't move away, she's so tantalizing, so close, I _want_ her so _badly_. I can't move any closer because if I do I'll lose her and she's the last thread that keeps me sane.

My willpower starts to crumble as her hips wriggle between mine. One kiss, maybe I can joke about it later when this inevitably goes wrong. Her hand runs up my bare leg and every nerve in my body feels like fire.

Someone knocks loudly at the door and the spell breaks. I'm off of her and on my feet in a few seconds, my hands in my hair to fix the pony-tail that had gotten knocked loose.

I must have looked a sight to the poor delivery man as I open the door. I sign for the package, then rebolt and relock the door after he's gone. Sam isn't on the mat anymore, and I close my eyes. I'm worked up and confused about her reactions, but she's retreated to her room and I can only think the worse.

That night, after a cold shower and a silent meal, I lay in bed alone. I hear my door open and the sound of Sam's familiar feet as she enters my room. My muscles melt with relief. Sam climbs into bed with me, curling into my side as her hand slides until my shirt. Her fingers begin the familiar tracing of the nasty scar on my stomach. It only takes a few minutes before my tremoring at her touch stops.

"Lara?"

"Yes, Sam?" My voice is thicker than usual. With a turn of my head I bury my nose into her hair, my lips feather light against the silky strands.

Sam's hand starts stroking at my hip bone. "Keep teaching me. I don't want to be a burden."

"You're never a burden." On the bright side, I'm going to save on hot water for the foreseeable future.


	8. The Balcony

**_(Lara talks about this event in the Fevered Dreams chapter of Scars, but there's no spoilers and reading the big fic isn't at all required to enjoy)_**

I try not to think about it too much when Sam is out this late. I know what she's doing and while I don't _like_ it, the reasons are entirely personal. I just think she can do better than the blokes she tries to date. If you can call shagging someone for a few weeks dating. Which is what I tell myself when I think about how it should be me her lips are on.

She's out with her latest fling tonight, leaving me alone in the flat we're sharing. Alone with my thoughts. Plenty of time to think of all the ways that I wish I was with her. But I'm not and I'm too scared to ruin our friendship by telling her how I really feel. I have a hard enough time with keeping my feelings off of my face. I've gotten really good at poker.

That's probably why it bothers me so much. I'm jealous. I'm jealous she has it so easy with guys, I'm jealous she's not here with me, being my best friend. I'm jealous she's not mine.

My mind keeps going in circles. It does this sometimes, and I can't concentrate on my studies or homework and I'm trying to find something to inspire me. This bloody paper is like pulling teeth. I give up eventually, pulling my legs up underneath me in my desk chair. I should just go to sleep but I can't until Sam gets home. She might not even be coming home, but I worry. She thinks I'm a mother hen but someone has to look out for her when she's on one of her wild streaks.

She's probably the only thing keeping me from starving to death in a library somewhere, so I suppose for every time I mother hen her, she makes me socialize.

It's nearly three AM when I hear someone stumbling around in the living room. I wait a few minutes, then come out of the bedroom to see if she's alone. I don't see her at first, until I look into the tiny kitchen and see her on the balcony leaning on the railing. Her shoulders are shaking.

I don't really know what to do. I want to find whoever made her cry and hit them. I can't leave her alone, so I come closer, opening the sliding glass door and then closing it quietly behind me. I touch Sam's shoulder and she jerks away from me. I touch her again, this time gripping her shoulder so she can't pull away. With my other hand I turn her face towards mine.

Tears streak her cheeks. Her eyes are reddened and puffy, and she looks at me with the most forlorn expression I've ever seen. Crushing her against me, I bury my face in her soft hair. "What happened? What's wrong?"

Her words are slurred, and she meanders through her story. Her boyfriend, Blake or Brock or something like that, had gotten her pretty snockered. "I guess he thought that I'd put out for all his friends. Like I was … this ...passed around.." She hiccups and I hold her tighter. I listen to her call herself all these names and these horrible things and when I try to tell her none of that's true she grabs my face. "M'bad for you. I'm jus' gonna get you into trouble. Jus' gonna have my rep all rub off on you. I don't.. I don't understand Lara. I don't understand why you put up with me!"

"You're a good person. There's nothing wrong with having fun. I've...always thought you respected yourself. That you didn't give a damn what anyone thought."

"I care what _you_ think…" She sniffles as I wipe tears from her face. "I'm a slut and a ho and you just put up with me because you're nice."

"That's not true!" I force her to look at me. Her eyes are bleary and I don't know if she'll remember any of this in the morning. "I love you. You're my best friend, more than that you're _family._ I'd be at a loss without you. And you're _not_ a slut."

I can see I'm not getting through to her. She's trying to pull away and there's this expression on her face like I've never seen before. I'm scared she'd going to try to drunkenly break off our friendship and I admit I'm not thinking clearly because it's not like she'd remember she did that. Or that I'd let her do it. But I don't want to hear it and I want to get through to her and my lips crash into hers.

There's a moment where neither of us move, but it doesn't last before her mouth opens to accept mine and she all but squirms into my lap.

My intoxication has nothing to do with what she's been drinking, but that thought starts to pull me out of it. I try to break the kiss but her hands slide into my shirt and my own fingers betray me as I do the same to her. I need to feel her, I need to touch her. The sounds she's making, oh my god, it's one thing through the walls of our flat but this is something different altogether. I have to stop this, I've already let it get too far.

She's drunk, she's so out of it that she can't possibly know what she's doing. I grab hold of that thought and let it pull me out of my needy fog. I turn my head to get air, and gently take her hands out of my clothing. The cold empty feeling of their absence is painful.

Pinning Sam's arms at her side, I hug her, tucking her head under my chin and rocking her. I feel _terrible._ "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

But she's asleep. I hold her awhile longer, before I carefully carry her to her bed. I'm turning to leave when I feel her finger in my waistband, pulling me back. "Don't go. You're the only one who ever…"

I sit on the bed and stroke my fingers through Sam's soft hair. "Okay. I'll stay. I wouldn't want to miss this hangover."

She says very quietly and with great enthusiasm, "Yay…!"


	9. Victoria's Secret

_**(Lara Croft's most difficult task yet. What could go wrong? Takes place about a month before the start of Scars.)**_

I think I'm prepared. I have everything I need, and as I stare at the entrance I have to draw up my courage. _Dig deep, Lara. You can do this. You're a Croft._

Walking through the door, I'm assaulted by the overpowering scent of flowery perfume. It really isn't that bad but I'm unprepared, especially in light of what greets my eyes. Lingerie and naughty knickers, as far as the eye can see. I'm standing on checkerboard tiles, trying not to stare at everything. I don't belong here. I didn't before and I certainly don't now.

I've only been to Victoria's Secret once before, when Sam dragged me inside to look for 'just the right thing' for the guy she just insisted was going to last. There's _nothing_ quite like watching the best friend you fancy pick out scandalous undergarments to wear for someone else.

Thinking about that strengthens my resolve. The romantic portion of our relationship is still new and frightening. This will be our first Valentine's together as a couple. I never really paid attention to the holiday. Frankly I find the whole thing to be extravagant and stupid, but I got it into my head that I want to surprise her with something unexpected. Knowing her she already has something planned.

I swallow my nerves and turn past a mannequin with a scrap of cloth that they laughably call panties.

Someone approaches on my left and I tell myself they're not a threat. It's a woman, middle-aged and dark hair. Behind her glasses are stunning blue eyes. Her nametag says 'Rosalind.' She flashes me a smile, and speaks so quickly I have a hard time keeping up. "Can I help you with anythin', duck? Lookin' for somethin' special?"

"Uhm." I'm not at my most eloquent when embarrassed like this. "Just...just looking around." My hand gestures around at the assorted clothing, and she puts an arm around me and guides me towards another section. I let myself be led along, helpless.

Rosalind pats my back. "Don't be so nervous! It's just knickers. Fancy knickers an' we both know they won't stay on you for long, but that's half the fun isn't it? So think about what your bloke likes an' then we'll find somethin' that'll go really good with your eyes an' skin."

"Girl," I correct, flushing. "I have a girlfriend." Just saying that makes me feel dizzy. It's really the first time I've acknowledged it aloud to myself, let alone to another person. Rosalind makes me feel somewhat safe, at least, on that subject.

To her credit, Rosalind doesn't even bat an eye. "What's your bird's favorite colour, then?"

"She likes purples and reds. Really anything that's sparkling will please her. I want something that's...soft. I'm more of the outdoorsy type but I think she'll like it if I think about that." I don't know if I want to go really … crazy, here. Something a little traditional and elegant would suit me just fine. It's for Sam.

"Well, you _are_ a bit on the butch side, duckie. _Love_ the boots." She reaches behind me and pulls out a purple babydoll. It's not too lacy, but it's a little bit elegant. The top part is in a halter style, which I already know will make Sam's jaw hit the floor. I touch the fabric and grin. "Oh, this has to be the one." I still want to sink through the floor just being here, but I'm more relaxed than I was five minutes ago.

"Lets find you a proper pair of knickers to go with this." She pulls me towards another section, and I start to feel like I need air. The woman moves so fast it's hard to keep up with her.

I veto the first five panties she picks out. She gives me an eyeroll when I pick the most conservative pair she shows me. It's still more like something Sam would wear than me and I start to second guess the whole idea.

Rosalind seems to sense this and gently touches my arm. "Y'love her right?"

"Of course."

"You're goin' through a lot of effort with this, an' you're clearly not comfortable. But you're thinkin' of her an' doin' this for her, so just think how much she's goin' to appreciate it. It doesn't have to mean you're bein' someone else."

She hits the nail on the head and I smile sheepishly. "I just want her to know how special she is to me."

"I doubt you need to go this far," Rosalind says truthfully. "But I'm not about to talk you out of a sale! Lets get you checked out, an' then I know a place that sells the best chocolate in London."

"Chocolate is a good call," I tell her. Once again we go through the sections of lingerie, and once again I try not to stare at everything.

She rings me up and I swipe my card without really paying attention to the price. I probably don't want to know. After Rosalind hands me the bag and gives me directions for the chocolate shop, I smile at her. "Thank you. You made this a lot less awkward of a shopping trip than I thought it would be."

The woman laughs. "Thank me after she's shagged you senseless."


	10. Playing Dress Up

**_(Prompt: Sam gets Lara ready for a fancy dress ball at Uni.)_**

Lara is kind of helpless in situations like this, but that's why she has me. I have to push her into the shower and shove a razor into her hand, before retreating to her bedroom to lay out the dress I'd bought for her. She doesn't know about it yet, and she's going to flip a biscuit when she sees it but I don't care. It's this big dress ball thing and my best friend is going to be the sexiest woman there. After yours truly, of course.

I'm mostly ready to go. I just need to get my shoes on and finish my makeup, but Lara takes priority. She comes into the bedroom and I pull her over to the bed. "Drop the towel, Lara."

She's eyeing the dress, and then looking at me. I can see the argument in her eyes before she opens her mouth. "Sam, how much did this cost?"

"It hardly cost anything." I yank the towel off of her and she starts to cover herself before she remembers it's just me. I don't really mind. She's gorgeous, especially when she blushes. Or is red with anger, I can't really tell right now.

"Your 'hardly costs anything' is more than some peoples' salaries." Before Lara can protest further I shove some panties and a bra into her hands. She looks at them, and her face turns redder. Ah, embarrassment. If I can keep her off balance I can have her ready to go before she realizes it.

"It's already paid for, now put those on and let me see you." I step back, hands on hips as I patiently wait for her to pull her underwear on. She gives me one more glare before she does so and I grin. "Okay that's hot."

"No one is going to _see_ them, I don't see the point in wearing something like this!" She sounds exasperated so I sigh extra-dramatically at her.

"Lara, just think about being all sexy and confident and you're the only one who knows you're wearing that stuff."

She rolls her eyes and looks down at her bra while fixing it. "You mean besides you?"

I'm kind of glad she's not looking at me because I catch myself staring as she jiggles around. "Knowing that we're the two hottest women in the room is fucking awesome." I suddenly need air and I walk to the window and open it a little bit. "Okay now get that dress on."

Lara picks it up and starts looking for the price tag. I smack her in the shoulder. "Oh come on like I'd leave it on. Put the dress on, Lara Croft, or so help me I'll…"

"You'll do what, spank me?" She turns and looks at me, one eyebrow quirked. She's standing with the dress hanging off of one hand while her other is on her hip.

My mouth is dry and I lift my head defiantly. "Yeah."

It's like some kind of twisted Mexican standoff. Like Lara is trying to decide if she wants to push the matter and me standing there wondering if I can actually go through with it. Of course I'll do it but my mind keeps running around in increasingly perverted circles and I'm going to need a stiff drink before we even get to the dance.

Lara breaks first, and starts to pull the dress on. I let out the breath I'd been holding and help her zip it up. It's a dark blue, with her shoulders exposed and just enough cleavage to make her breathtaking. I rub my hands up and down her shoulders, then sit her down.

Now that the awkward is over, it's time to break out the make-up kit. I lean over her and start to apply some base. "You just sit there and let me sex you up."

Lara's eyes don't quite meet mine. They dip down in that way when one of my dates is trying to not stare at my breasts or my lips or whatever body part they liked to fixate on. Get a grip, Sam. Wishful thinking.

I have to be careful with make-up and Lara. She doesn't like wearing much and she never really needs all that much. The work comes in being subtle, which takes a lot longer than you'd think. And Lara is sitting there impatiently. "How much longer?"

"Just a few more minutes, then we'll do your hair."

"Sam, we have to be there in an hour!"

I pfft at her. That's plenty of time. "You worry too much. Take a look in the mirror." I hold one up and watch her reaction closely. She bites her lip,then sets the mirror down.

"I'll never understand how you're so good at that."

"Lots of practice, sweetie." She starts to stand but I push her back down. My hand lingers on her chest too long before I pull it away but I don't think she noticed. "Nuh uh. I'm still sexing you up. We're so not done yet."

Again her face colors. I ignore it, because I don't have a choice. How the hell can I tell her I'm crushing on her? Instead I focus on braiding her hair and then wrapping the braids so that they're on top of her head and fixed into place with some pins.

"Perfect!"

It think she's impressed. It might be a little frilly but it's out of the way frilly and Lara appreciates that. "Thank you. What would I do without you?"

"Look terrible, probably."


	11. Christmas Memories

**_(Lara and Sam's first Christmas as a couple. Set between Lessons and Scars.)_**

I always forget that letting Sam handle the Christmas decorations is a bit like handing crayons to a child and telling her to go wild. The flat looks like Santa's Sled exploded all over it. There's tinsel everywhere and garland strung off of every conceivable surface. Everything glitters.

And the lights. I'm terrified of what the light bill is going to be. The living room ls cast in red and oranges and greens, and lights run around the ceiling, and into the hallway. I can guess that she's put lights in every room. Blinking, flashing lights. She's lucky neither of us has epilepsy.

The tree though, is mostly bare. She's gotten the lights up on it, but the topping is missing and none of the ormaments have been hung up. Sam's sitting on the couch, wearing a green holiday hat and a pair of green short shorts. Like she's Santa's sexy elf.

"Where did you get that outfit?" I lean down and her hand tangles in my hair as we kiss. "You better not be sitting in any laps."

"Just yours, sweetie." She pats the couch next to her and I sit down. She has the boxes of our ornaments open on the coffee table and I reach over to pick up a cat, turning it over in my hands. It was what she picked out for me the first year we started our ornament tradition. In the years since we've added several others. The Christmas after Yamatai are the simplest ornaments, both frosted glass. I had wanted to skip it but Sam insisted we get something, like a promise for better times to come. I guess she'd been right. Each year gets a little easier.

"I've been waiting for you to get home, so we can do the tree together. It's kind of our first tree. Together. _Together_ together."

She doesn't need to emphasize together but I understand. It's a little terrifying and I wonder if it will always be terrifying. Her hand slips into mine and it's warm. "We need to find the perfect places for each ornament."

"New one last," she insists, when my hand goes to the biggest ornament on the table. It's our first year, our first tree together, and we'd picked one out together. Blown glass in bands and ribbons, forming an endless series of knots. Unending, with no breaks.

It had appealed to me as a symbol of our relationship. A symbol of us making each other whole. I pick it up anyway. "No. This one first. It's...it's us and that should always come first."

"Lara, you're a sap." Her eyes are glistening and I tug her to her feet. "But I won't tell anyone so your rep is safe."

I feel a pain in my chest, deep and sudden just then and wrap my free arm around her, hugging her as though she might float away. She snuggles in, and we stand like that for awhile, before I remember the tree. We put the ornament up together, and then one by one the rest of the special ornaments go up. I'm extra careful with Sam's snowflake. It has our names and the kanji for family.

Last is the star. It's gold and silver and very old. Roth had bought it from an antique shop when I was a child. It almost feels like he's watching over us.

I make some hot cocoa and settle on the couch. Sam bounces away from the window and all but crashes into the couch next to me. "It's snowing!" She rests her head on my shoulder and snuggles in llike she's done on other Christmases, but this time it's different. I love her, and I'm allowed to say it. "Remember the cabin?"

We'd tried to escape our memories and gotten snowed in for nearly a week. "Yes. Do you have any idea how close I came to telling you I loved you?"

"I wish you had." Sam's wistful tone makes me feel a little guilty, but she adds, "But you didn't, and now I know anyway and we won't waste any more time."

I take a sip of my cocoa. The lights around the flat blink to their unheard music, and the tree looks more full than it has since we started our tradition. Each ornament is a memory, some better than others and all taken together they tell the story of Sam and I. From carefree friends to family, to shellshocked victims to lovers

She's right. I really am a sap.


	12. Jealousy

**_(Boarding School. Lara reacts to Sam's first time.)_**

I'm not really enjoying this event. It's one of those joint dances with the boys school, but I really shouldn't have come. I'm not comfortable in my dress, and I've only danced once. With Sam. But she's disappeared after an older boy cut in and left me alone to try to fend his friends off like a pack of wolves. So the highlight of my evening was pretty much near the beginning and it's gotten worse since.

I escape to the gardens outside, letting the breeze cool my skin and hugging myself, feeling generally miserable. Lesson learned, next time stay in and read. I don't know where Sam is, but out here there are no chaperones. I can be alone with my thoughts.

So I walk, and walk, and really I'm going to kill Sam for leaving me like this. My anxiety gradually abates, and that's about when I hear the giggle. I'd recognize that giggle anywhere and I walk down a path and peer through some bushes. There's Sam, and she's snogging that boy which is bad enough because she's _my_ Sam and what's she doing with someone else making her make those sounds? But then she makes a pained noise.

Oh.

_Oh my god._

I back away quietly as the reality of the situation sinks in. She just met him. She just _met_ him what does she think she's doing?!

_It's not like anyone pays attention to me anyway,_ she'd told me like last week. Is that what this is? Some boy showers her with attention and she just latches onto it like a life raft? What about me? Don't I count? I know that's selfish but I don't care, I don't want to share her!

I need to get back to our room, I need to figure this out. Why is this feeling so _unfair_. But then I see one of the teachers walking down the path. If Sam gets caught they'll probably expel her. I'll never _see_ her again. The thought makes me panic. I don't know what'll happen to her. I don't know what'll happen to _me_. I hardly have any friends as it is and Sam clawed her way so far into my heart that if she's ripped away she'll probably take it with her.

I let out a breath and approach the teacher to distract her from what my friend is doing. _Samantha Nishimura, you owe me._

Once the immediate crisis is over I rush back to our room. It's just the two of us and I kind of wish it was just me right now because I want to throw things and cry. I don't do either, and just curl up in bed with a textbook.

Sam sneaks in an hour or so later. She's flushed and grinning, and she looks _so happy_ that my angry words die on my tongue. I really should yell at her, for giving it up to some boy she barely knows. She hops onto the bed next to me and throws my book over to her bed, before wrapping her arms around me. "Oh my god Lara you'll never guess what happened!"

Muffled by her shoulder, I respond, "Try me?"

She talks about him and about how amazing shagging is and yes she used a condom and where the hell did she get one of those anyway? But she's just so happy that I don't have the heart to yell at her for it. All I want for her is to be happy. If this makes her happy then what right do I have to stop her? As long as she's smart about it anyway, I'm going to have a long talk about that with her and-

Sam kisses my cheek. "And anyway you're totally sneaking out with me tomorrow night for a double date."

"I'm what?!"

"Don't worry! I told him you wouldn't put out because you're kind of old fashioned and looking for the 'one' and he just laughed until I glared at him."

"Sam, I'm," I'm what, exactly? Not interested, I'm not at all interested.

"It'll be fun. Please Lara? I don't want to go alone." She gives me the puppy eyes and I relent. But I don't let go of her all night.

We manage to sneak out the next night, but the double-date is horrid all around. My date is handsy and his breath stinks and he doesn't know the definition of the word no until I knee him in the balls.

Sam and her boyfriend only last a couple more weeks before I catch him snogging another girl. I knee him in the balls too. It breaks my heart when I tell her, and utterly shatters it as I hold her while she cries.

I decide that I'm always going to support her, smiling or crying. She's my family. And if I end up developing a bit of a ballbreaker reputation by the time we get to Uni so be it.


	13. A Little Too Much to Drink

_**(Lara's drunk, Sam is buzzed, and Sam has way less self-control than the brunette.)**_

Lara's drunk. It's kind of funny. She's dancing around to the radio, stripped down to nondescript black panties and her sports bra. Which doesn't match at all, as I've pointed out to her about three times now. Four times. I think. I'm a little buzzed myself. I'm on my third drink.

But why shouldn't she dance around like a drunk idiot? She's got the bod for it and we just got our grades back for the semester and both did so awesome. I couldn't have done it without her. She's amazing, and I've never seen her cut loose like this before. It's fascinating. Maybe too fascinating but I've been trying to ignore that.

She dances closer, and snatches my beer. I scramble after her and fall into her trap as she pulls me into the 'dance' floor with her. "Dance with me Sam."

"Since I'm never going to get you like this in public I'm going to take advantage of it while I can," I reply. This makes her laugh harder than is strictly necessary, before she buries her nose against my shoulder.

I really shouldn't be imagining pulling her bra off right now, but once my mind seizes on the idea it won't let it go. She's pressed against me and I regret teaching her how to dance like this because it's distracting.

Lara nuzzles her lips against my ear. "Taking advantage of me, Sam?" Her voice is low and throaty and sends vibrations all the way down, making my knees weak and coiling a spring in my stomach. She might as well be asking me to take advantage, the way she said it. I have her bra off and in my hand before I realize what I'm doing.

Then Lara pushes me against the wall, her lips crushing mine, her knee between my legs and I'm gone. I'm just so fucking gone. The last time we kissed I'd been the drunk one and now the roles are reversed, except I have no willpower and I'm pretty sure I'm way more into Lara than she's into me.

I push her off and towards the couch. She flops onto her back and laughs. She's just laying there, topless and looking up at me with this unnerving desire in her eyes.

I like to have fun. It never really matters to me if it's with a man or not, as long as we both get off and enjoy ourselves. I never seem to attract anyone who wants to be around for longer than a few weeks or a month. There's just _Lara_.

The thought starts to sober me up a little. Oh, I'm looking and I'm going to commit this to memory but I can't fuck this up with her. I've about talked myself out of what I really, really want to do when she says my name. It's like a command and that spring tightens. I straddle her hips and kiss her throat and her chest and then she pulls my head up for another kiss. My hands are becoming intimately acquainted with her abs and breasts and I feel like I'm losing my mind.

I pull back so hard that I fall off the couch and nearly hit my head on the coffee table. She looks down at me and I look up at her, then scramble to my feet and run into my bedroom. The distance between us is like cold air. It's great for cooling me down but fucking horrible because her body isn't plastered against mine any more.

Lara could knock on that door and I'd let her in and we'd make a terrible, wonderful mistake together. I almost pray for her to knock, but for whatever reason it doesn't happen. The only thing I can do is work out my frustrations, my voice muffled by my pillow.

The apartment is quiet when I emerge. Lara is still on the couch, still mostly naked. I'm a little more sober and there's more sense in my head but I still trace her collarbone as I put a blanket over her. I pick up an empty bottle and put it on the table.

She grabs my hand and I look into puffy, reddened eyes. Her words slur. "We're okay, Sam? We're okay? I don't want… don't want us not okay."

"Yeah! Sweetie, we're okay!" I squeeze her hand, relieved. "We'll always be okay. No matter what. Promise."


	14. New Years Kisses

_**(Sam and Lara try a New Years party some time after Yamatai. Set a few months before In This Together.)**_

So this New Year there's this big party at this guy's house and naturally I'm invited so I drag Lara out. I think she lets me because she's trying to return to normal. God knows I am. I even get her in this little black dress and I've got a silver one that sort of matches. We look so fucking hot together it's stupid.

Lara, of course, finds a corner to hide in but she can only hide so long before I find her and pull her over to where everyone is dancing. It's fun, it's a little hot, and I'm seriously entertaining the idea of kissing her at midnight. It's not like she's going to find anyone, we're both too damaged for that. Even in Uni, almost every time I set her up on a date she'd come home early. I figured she just can't put up with inane bullshit and was all 'screw you guys, I'm going home'.

Which doesn't explain how she puts up with _my_ inane bullshit but I'll take what I can get. The fact that I managed to get us both out and interacting with people after the island is a miracle.

It's getting close to midnight when I have to flee to pee. By the time I get back to the party Lara's back in her corner again. Except this time she's sucking face with someone. Lara's making out with someone and I feel my stomach drop out from under me.

Fuck me I'm _jealous_. I know I have a crush on her but it's not something I let myself go with because It's Lara and she's my family. You don't crush on your family, it's just...I don't know. But I've gotten myself kind of psyched up to the idea of kissing her at midnight. It's a good excuse and if things go weird we can always blame the alcohol again. That's me, not thinking clearly.

I'm so not thinking clearly that I march right over and pull the guy off of my friend. I expect her to yell at me but she just gives me this relieved look as I take her outside.

"Thanks for that. It was like snogging a live fish but I didn't know how to...get out of it. Without..." She waves a hand and I assume she means 'violence.' Her body language is stiff, and I can feel how tense she is. Like she was just holding herself back. It's probably progress that she was willing to give it a shot, but then it occurs to me that OH HO SAM IS THE HERO! I hug her and let her think that was the entirety of my motivation. "Come on, we can't see the river from here but I'll bet we can get a good view of the fireworks if we get up onto the roof. We can escape the crowd, I know there's only so much you can take."

"Fall and break our necks, you mean?"

"Exactly. But I've seen you climb, we'll be fine."

By some miracle we make it onto a nearby roof. The view is pretty unobstructed from here and I feel Lara's fingers thread into my own. I scoot closer for warmth. " Never thought you were the random make-out sort, Lara."

"I'm not, I just…" She shrugged a shoulder and from her expression she's struggling to find an explanation. "I felt lonely. You're so good at enjoying yourself and…I'm not."

I still remember her 'I'm not impressed' face after she came back from her first time with a guy and I giggle. "You enjoy yourself in different ways. That's okay. You know, I think that's the first time I've seen you try to do anything with a guy since...you know. I haven't even been able to."

She shrugs a shoulder and slides her left arm around my waist. The first firework goes up and she asks, "Didn't you want a New Years kiss from someone?"

Tangling my fingers in her hair, I pull her head down in answer. There are fireworks, both literally and figuratively. It's almost aggressive how her lips move against mine and the way the tension ebbs out of her makes my stomach flutter. We miss most of the show by the time we come up for air. Lara ducks her head bashfully, and I rest mine on her shoulder. My lips still tingle and Lara isn't pulling away. In fact she hugs me closer. I wonder how long we'll be able to continue pretending this attraction between us doesn't exist. It's not just hero worship on my part. It's...more. It's definitely more.

"Happy New Years, Sam."

I make my resolution then and there.

"Happy New Years, Lara."


	15. Rule34 of the Internet is

_**(Sam discovers that rule34 includes real people, even famous archaeologists and their girlfriends. She tries to keep it from Lara...)**_

One of the things that I started doing as Lara's name got more and more famous is pay attention to what people are saying. Mostly it's just your usual paparazzi shit, but she's got a large following of girls. She blushes and just shrugs it off when I tell her how important it is for her to be a role-model, but I think she secretly likes it.

I'm actually trolling through one of those forums when I follow a link. It's the cardinal rule of the internet - never click that link, but I click it anyway because that's how I roll.

It takes me to a really well drawn picture of Lara and me. Naked and wrapped around each other and explicitly detailed. You can see our hoo-hahs and everything!

It's really kind of hot but oh my god Lara is going to _freak._ There's a whole bunch of this stuff, but that's the internet. I mean, if you want to find porn of something you can. I just never really thought that someone would want to draw real people but there you go, I'm so proven wrong.

We're not even the only ones. I start digging around and there's art and even fanfics about all kinds of celebrities. I get drawn into this world of celebrity fantasy and after a few hours I have this folder filled with documents and pictures of Lara, and me, and okay a few photoshopped naked hotties shut up.

Some of these are really good. Ridiculous good. Like people are putting hours and hours of their lives into making _porn_ of us and on one hand that's kind of creepy but on the other hand it's fucking _awesome_! I'm kinda stoked and flattered. It's this huge boost to my ego and if you ask anyone that's the last thing I really need.

I'm reading this really...stupid (hot) thing about an ancient fertility ritual when I hear the door open. I try to alt tab out of it but end up on one of the pictures and I'm frantically trying to find a window that doesn't have Lara's hot bod on it as she comes into the room. "Sam? I brought us some take-out."

I slam the laptop shut and swivel in my chair. "Sweetie!" Launching towards her, I wrap my arms around her and give her a smootch. She'd _die_ if she saw what was on my computer. Literally melt through the floor out of embarrassment. It's my duty as her girlfriend to protect her, right?

She peels my arms off of her shoulders and gives me a suspicious look. Uh oh.

"What were you looking at when I came in?"

"Nothing!" I answer too quickly and I know it, but full steam ahead! "It's nothing. Just..I 'm planning a surprise. You don't need to see the surprise yet." Oh great, now I had to come up with something later on. But I'm me and that won't be hard.

She steps around me and I move between her and the laptop. She eyes me, with this smirk on her face that I try to ignore because _rwar_. I've fallen for her feint because she lifts me up and throws me over her shoulder. Sure, I have a great view of her ass before she dumps me on the bed, but then she's opening my laptop.

Lara makes a sound in the back of her throat that makes my ears ring. I look around her to see what she's looking at and I wince. It had to be on that one, didn't it. "So uhm. Do you wanna try that out? That looks like a lot of fun!"


	16. Many Zeros

_**(Prompt: When Sam first finds out that Lara is ridiculously rich with a manor and a butler but refuses to touch the money and works three jobs instead.)**_

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Sam!" I cringe, holding my hands up as she pushes me so hard I fall onto the bed. "Watch your mouth!"

"I can't believe you've been holding out on me!" She pounces, straddling me and looking down at me like I'm some kind of bizarre creature. She waves a statement in front of my face as though emphasizing her point. "Like I knew you had money but goddamn!"

I try to snatch it back but she holds it up out of my reach. "Give me that, why are you looking through my mail?"

"Because it's been sitting on your desk forever and someone has to open it. Do you see all these zeros?" She pushes it at me and points. There are...actually quite a few zeros there. More than I'd realized. "Look at all these zeros, Lara. All these zeros and you're working at the bar and you've got that job down at the bakery pushing donuts on people."

"I just got hired for the holiday rush at-" I get smacked by the paper as Sam makes an exasperated sound.

"Okay a _third_ job now! I'll never get to see you. What the fuck?" She flings the statement away and looks genuinely upset. "I'm never going to get to _see you_ now! I don't understand. I know you said you wanted to earn your way but you have more money than god! You could be in Cambridge right now. Why are you even here?!"

She already answered her question, but I clarify it for her. "I can't ride on my father's money. If I can't do this on my own then I don't _deserve_ it. I could buy my way to a degree with my father's money and connections at Cambridge. It wouldn't even be that difficult. It would be really easy. But I'd never be able to look myself in the mirror again."

My arms wrap around her shoulders and I tug her down. "Besides, I wanted to be with you."

She sniffles against my neck. "If you're working three jobs then how can you be with me?"

"Sleep is for the weak," I respond, and she laughs. She props herself up and I get an eyeful. Thankfully she doesn't notice where I'm staring.

"Lara, is there absolutely anything else you need to tell me about your money?"

I look up at the ceiling instead of her, but she grabs my chin and forces me to look at her. "Ah...well there is one thing."

"Yeah?"

"I have a mansion."

"A mansion."

"Yes. The butler cares for it."

She's silent for a moment and I can't tell if she's seething or if she's just in shock. Finally she rolls off of me, then throws my jacket into my face. "You're gonna show me your mansion and I'm gonna meet your butler."

"Sam, I really don't like going there."

"Get the keys or I'm driving."

I never got my boots on that quickly before, and I have to race down to the car before she can get into the driver's seat. I'm thinking of the safety of all the other drivers out there on the road. "Okay! Okay, I'll take you to the manor."

Sam nods at me, then slips into the passenger seat as I buckle in. As I start the car, she puts her hand on my arm. "Hey."

I look at her hand, then at her face.

"I know I'm being a pain but it's your birthright. Your home. You shouldn't hide it away from people."

A chuckle escapes my throat as I back out. "Sam, you're my home now. Where I live doesn't matter, as long as it's with you. I'd much rather make new memories than relive old, painful ones."

"Maybe this is a start, Lara." Sam leans over and kisses my cheek. "Make some new memories."

She's right. Maybe Sam can give me good memories of that place. But the money fight we have two days later will definitely not be forgotten.


	17. Playing Doctor

**_(Prompt! For okh-eshivar: "Lara comes home after work at the nine bells pub bloodied with a cut through her eyebrow and Sam has to wash her up. (cos her pre-yamatai concept art has an eyebrow scar) :3")_**

"What the _actual_ fuck?" The words spew out of my mouth the second Lara comes through the front door. It's not the first time my friend has made me say those words in some variation, but tonight? Oh tonight she's earned them.

She stands in the door, looking at me sheepishly. She usually wears a grey and white shirt when she's bartending. It's hot on her, tight in the right places with the Nine Bells' logo on the back. But there are fresh bloodstains all over it. Her hair is matted to her head and there's a nasty gash on her eyebrow and she's going to have a shiner in that eye tomorrow. I'm not even sure how she made it home like this. Or why she wasn't at the _hospital_. "Sam. I can explain…"

"Are you _kidding_ me?" I grab her and pull her into the bathroom before she bleeds all over our carpet. My stomach is fluttering in a way where I'm not sure if I'm going to throw up of if I want to hit her. It looks like she got hit enough though and mostly I'm worried sick.

"Your shirt…" I sit Lara on the toilet and then look down. I'm wearing a shirt by Vivienne Westwood that cost me nearly three hundred pounds and it's stained with Lara's blood.

It's completely ruined, so I just pull it off and toss it in the tub. "Don't worry about it. We need to get you washed up. God you're going to need _stitches_! What happened?"

I need to get her talking because me and blood don't get along and I'm going to faint. I already feel light headed as I press a wet cloth against her forehead.

"I'll buy you a new one…."

"Lara."

"Sam."

I press the cloth harder against her head and get rewarded with an ow. She kicks me lightly in the foot. "I had to break up a little tiff at the bar."

"A little tiff? You look like you just walked out of a warzone!" I feel something in her cut and pull out a piece of glass. The bathroom suddenly spins around me and the next thing I see is the ceiling.

"Sam!"

"I'm okay! Stay seated!" I pull myself up and take a few deep breaths. "It was just a piece of glass."

"I'm not going to the doctor." Stubborn Lara is stubborn and I glare at her. My bra is getting ruined too so that joins my shirt in the tub. Lara suddenly goes quiet and I think maybe I can do this. How many really gory movies have I watched? All of them, practically. This is...well it's different but it doesn't have to be.

Lara's face doesn't take long to clean up and she hisses a little when I spray some antiseptic into her cut, but she seems distracted. She's being such a good girl that I'm going to have to get her a lollipop. Maybe get me a lollipop, because this isn't really that bad now that I've got the hang of it. We have this tape stuff that can hold it closed and I finish by liberally wrapping her head in a bandage."You're going to have the _sexiest_ scar. I'm so jealous."

She just nods at me as I carefully pull her to her feet and help her get her shirt and bra off. I start to undo her belt and she grabs my hands. "Sam, what are you doing?"

"Are you dizzy?"

"A little, but-"

"Then I'm going to help you clean off and you're going to let me, sweetie." I use my sweetest matter-of-fact voice as I yank her belt out of the loops. As if proving my point, she suddenly wobbles and has to grab onto the sink to stay upright. "Behave and you'll get a lollipop."

Twenty awkward and slightly arousing minutes later, we're both clean. I get Lara into a shirt and tuck her into bed with an icepack for her bruise. It's a lot more noticeable now but at least her cut is taken care of. I brush my fingers through her hair and I'm rewarded with her dorkiest smile.

"So you never told me what happened." I curl up alongside her, and feel her body press against mine.

"This bloke was getting too friendly with one of the girls. I told him to back off so he made some lewd remarks about me." Lara shrugs her shoulder like that was nothing. And it really was, she usually didn't let that get to her. "When he tried to get grabby with her I twisted his hand around. That's when he broke the beer bottle."

"_Tell_ me he looks worse than you do?"

Lara grins at me, her fingers finding my hair. "_He_ went to the hospital."


	18. Something Domestic

There are some things I like done a particular way. Sam always found it funny that my desk could be in a state of disarray yet my bed be made with military precision. Try being raised by a man like Conrad Roth and then get back to me about making the bed.

This was never really an issue until recently. Sam could keep her bed as messy as she wanted and I could happily make mine the way Roth drilled it into me. At least that was the way it was until we moved from friendship to relationship and started sleeping together. Now we are discovering new and interesting quirks about each other that we've never noticed before. Like the way Sam does laundry. It makes absolutely no logical sense and I don't know why I let her do that except that we like to split the chores.

I'm watching my girlfriend haphazardly pull the sheets out of the dryer and _try_ to fold them. I emphasize the word try, because she's doing it all wrong. I can count the ways she's doing it wrong and finally I have to _say_ something. "Sam, that's not how you fold the sheets."

"They're just sheets, Lara. They don't need to be _perfect_." Sam, of course, doesn't understand. Why should she? She had someone to do all this for her as a child and didn't have a sailor and former military man instill proper bed-making behaviour in her.

"Yes, they do! And while we're on the subject you're _never_ allowed to make the bed again." It took me an extra twenty minutes this morning to undo the damage she'd done. I walked up to her and took the sheet out of her hands. "Just hold these two ends, and fold as I fold. It's easier with two people anyway."

She rolls her eyes at me but plays along. We get the first sheet folded together, but it's off a few inches. I give her a dirty look and show her how to properly align the edges. She messes it up on purpose, I'm pretty sure. After the third time, I smack her with a pillow case and she laughs at me.

I'm torn between throttling her or kissing her. I settle for thwapping her with the pillow case again. "That's it, _Samantha Nishimura_. You're asking for it."

Her eyes light up as she leans in, her voice dropping to a purr. "Oooh that's my full name, I must _really_ be in trouble! Are you going to spank me? Are we at spanking yet? I've got this list of kinky things I want to do with you and we can totally scratch spanking off."

I stare at her in bafflement. There's a huge grin on her face and I spend several moments sputtering. "No I didn't mean...well…" The mental images I conjure up are vivid and detailed and I'm sure I've turned bright red. "I meant … Dishes. You get the dishes tonight."

Sam's face falls. "That's not very fun."

"Do the dishes right and pick up the flat," I tell her, picking the sheets up to take them to the closet. "And _maybe_ you'll get to scratch something off of that list."

I have the satisfaction of watching Sam's jaw drop before I walk out of the tiny laundry room. I think I've won that one, but when I hear her murmur "I'm gonna clean the _shit_ out of this place" I suddenly wonder just who the winner actually is.


	19. A Night In

**_AN: Lara and Sam spend a night in on the couch, watching the telly. Contains some spoilers for the Scars chapter "A Simple Question"_**

* * *

Sam must still be apologizing for attempting to cook dinner the other night. I find a new book waiting on recent meso-american discoveries. It's one I haven't read before, which is probably a feat since I'm one of those kicks. There's a little note where Sam doodled a heart and then left an imprint of her lips. I sniff it and it smells like her favorite lipgloss. Coincidentally it's my favorite of hers, too.

Plopping onto the couch before my thoughts could get distracted I crack open the book. The first time you open a book - really open it - feels like you're setting off on a journey to another world. There's a feel to it, and even the smell of the paper can take me away.

I'm so engrossed that I don't realize Sam is home until I feel her leaning over the couch. Her hands rest on my shoulders and I tilt my head back long enough to smile at her. "Thank you." Then it's back to my book and steadfastly ignoring my fiance while she rubs at my shoulders. I'm successful until I feel her breath on my ear. She nips lightly and I lose my place. "S..Sam.."

"Mmm?" The sound is more like a purr as her tongue traces the outline of my ear. If she starts to go further in I'm done for and we both know it. When she sucks on my earlobe the book slides out of my lap. Somehow, she crawls over the back of the couch and barely breaks contact with my ear in the process. Winston might catch us but I've started to suspect he's developed a preternatural sense for knowing what rooms to avoid.

I let Sam have her way with my ear, her fingers caressing my collar bone and my cheek. It's as relaxing as it is arousing but when I move to touch her back she gently moves my hand away. Apparently done, she kisses my cheek and snuggles in against me. "I love you. Did you enjoy your book?"

Groaning, I lightly smack her arm with two fingers. "You tease."

"You loved every second of it," she counters. "You'll just have to get me back sometime." Sam moves out of my reach and grabs the remote. "Can we stay in and do movie night?"

I sit up straight. "You don't want to go out? Are you sick?"

"I'm not allowed to want to stay in sometimes?" She turns the tv on and raises her eyebrows at me. I shrug my shoulder and lean over to pick the book up. She has a point, but usually she takes any excuse to go out.

"I had a weird day. My mom was kind of a bitch on the phone, and then I had to like...veto a bunch of things she wanted to do and you just don't want to know the horror she almost tried to pull on our wedding..." She sits down with me again and we rearrange ourselves until we're curled up together. She's still adjusting to the idea that her mother wants anything at all to do with her life.

Kissing the back of her neck, I say, "Okay. Lets watch something kind of silly and dumb. I'm in the mood to hear you critique the camera work and not talk about weddings."

Sam laughs. "Cold feet?"

"No." I kiss her shoulder. "Not the marrying you part. All the people and the fuss part. That's why you're in charge."

"I guess I know what I'm good for. Planning big parties and fantastic sex."

It reminds me of a lot of times we'd had back in the flat, curled in front of the TV. First as friends and later as lovers. Not much has changed if I stop and think about it, except we hold each other a little closer and our hands wander a little farther.

Sam's complaints during the second movie are non-stop, so I kiss her to calm her down. We miss the rest of the movie, distracted by snogging each other until I'm dizzy. I try to maneuver us around and we roll right off the couch. Sam starts laughing so hard that I'm afraid she's going to make herself sick, but it's infectious.

My sides hurt, I can't breathe and my throat is hoarse but I can't stop laughing. And the harder _I_ laugh, the harder Sam laughs as we feed on each other. We're left gasping on the floor, interrupted by the occasional giggle in my ear.

"Lara?" Sam sounds a little guilty again and I turn my head to look at her.

"Mmm?"

"My mom is okay with us holding the wedding in London but she kind of reserved the Royal Courts of Justice." She looks at me sheepishly.

I stare at her. The Royal Courts are not unlike a cathedral, beautiful but extravagantly expensive to hold events in. It's perfect for large events, with a great number of people. I feel light headed. "If that's the _good_ thing, what horror did you manage to avert?"

"Lara, it's a beautiful venue and she kept saying no to the museum. Getting married under the T-Rex would have been amazing!"

"Sam, you're hedging." But she's right. That would have been amazing.

She gets to her feet. "I'm going to go shower!" I grab for her legs and she drags me along the floor for a few feet. "Laaaara, let go!"

"What new hell did my future mother-in-law try to foist on us this time?"

My fiance darts her eyes to the left, and then to the right. "She wanted the pope."

That makes me let go of her, and I shake my head. "She's not Catholic. Sam, neither of us are Catholic either. The _Pope_?!"

"Oh god, fine. I didn't want to show you it because it's _so horrible_!" She sits on the floor next to me and pulls out her phone. She shows me the most hideous wedding dress that I've ever seen. I don't know where the lace ends or the sequins begin. "She wanted us to wear this. Matching dresses."

I can't comprehend why anyone would wear that. "...I'm beginning to have doubts about marrying into this family."

"It's too late." She wraps her arms around me and kisses me so wetly that it echoes in the hallway. "You're stuck with me."


	20. The Blanket Monster

The heater is out. It's one of the coldest winters in recent memory and we have no heat. Of course it's Lara's fault for being a cheapskate. Or maybe it's my fault for forgetting to pay the bill but either way we're stuck for a night without heat and the apartment is like a walk-in freezer. There's no need to assign blame! I think I last about ten minutes before I'm wrapping my blanket around myself and running into Lara's room. I don't give her much warning as I launch into bed with her and burrow under her covers. She smacks me as I try to arrange both her blankets and mine to surround us in warmth. I smack her back and we have a little fight with slappy hands at each other. "It's cold!"

"Sam your feet are ice-cubes!"

"I'm sorry. You're my bestie but cold feet comes with the territory." Her skin is so warm. I snuggle in against her and slide my hands under her tank top. She yelps but I've got my leg thrown around her and after a few moments of token struggling she accepts her fate as my human heater. She smells like the library. Is library a smell? Old books. She was gone all day so that's probably where she was.

Ice creeps up my stomachs and I squirm, "Lara!"

"Now you know how it feels!" She laughs, the sound warm, but not warm enough to do anything about the cold. "_Jesus_ it's frigid!" She tries to crawl into my clothing or something, and I'm doing the same to her. It's probably a good thing we're so close or this would be awkward.

Cocooned in two blankets with our bodies flushed together, I finally start to feel _warm_ again. She starts to trace patterns in my back with her fingers and my hand rests on her hip, stroking her lightly there. Her breath is hot on my face but I'm not going to turn it away. "Mm. This is better."

"I'd rather not boost your ego," she whispers. She's so close her lips feather against my cheeks. "But this was a good idea."

It would be the simplest thing in the world to kiss her. Lara's hands are burning a trail in my back, while my own hand rubs dangerously towards her thigh. I'm just seconds from giving into the temptation of her lips when my foot becomes exposed. It feels like razor needles are cutting into it. I shriek, kicking my feet to try to get the blanket back over my foot. It only exposes more of us. Lara gasps, half-laughing as she tries to roll herself deeper into the blankets. She ends up taking mine, too, and I sit on her bed, shivering while she stares at me from within the depths of the comforters, like some sort of blanket monster.

I whine at her, "Laaaara… It's freezing!"

"You should have thought about that before you started thrashing about," she replies, the blanket monster shuffling a little closer. I can see light reflecting in her eyes, but can't tell what she's thinking. I don't know what would have happened if my foot hadn't turned into ice just then.

"My foot got exposed! Come on! At least let me have mine." I stare at her, imploringly and with my teeth chattering. The blanket monster suddenly opens up and engulfs me.

"That's better." I try to sound miffed, but I'm really happy. It's warm in these blankets and it smells like Lara. Snuggling my face into her chest, I close my eyes and inhale deeply. Winter can bite my ass, but I _guess_ it has it's plus sides.


End file.
